Mauritius To Enhance Economic Ties with India

MUMBAI, INDIA - A luncheon meeting was held in honour of Mauritius Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth, which was organized by All India Association of Industries (AIAI) in association with Indo-Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and World Trade Centre, Mumbai on November 20, 2016. Mr. Jugnauth said, “The relations between India and Mauritius have always been very strong and I see no reason that it will be otherwise. It will be very strong and we are doing everything to make it stronger”.

Foreign investment from Mauritius comprises around 33 per cent of overall foreign investment into India since 2000 and in FY 2016, it was 21 per cent. The foreign funds owned over 28 per cent in the Sensex and Nifty stocks.

In May 2016, both the countries signed a protocol to amend the above mentioned convention. According to the protocol, India would be taxing capital gains arising from sale or transfer of shares acquired on or after April 1, 2017. The protocol protects investments in shares acquired before 1st April, 2017 and existing investments made before 1st April, 2017 have been grandfathered and will not be subject to capital gains taxation, Mr. Jugnauth informed.

In spite of the tax treaty, Mauritius is hopeful of remaining the largest source of foreign Investments into India, Mr. Jugnauth stressed.

Mr. Jugnauth further said, “We are still negotiating to have a new treaty in place. The old treaty was obviously beneficial to us and since it is not there, we are losing the benefit that we were making.”

Mr. Jugnauth further informed that his government was offering various incentives to promote the film industry, as the country has all the infrastructure and it is one of the best locations for producing films.

Mr. Vijay G. Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai and President, All India Association of Industries (AIAI) in his address, mentioned various fiscal incentives including tax holidays given by the Mauritius government to attract global corporation, promote film industry, support SME Sector, and encourage export of pharmaceutical products to African market.

Mr. Kalantri informed that Mauritius also envisages to develop gold sector in which India already has enough capabilities in terms of designs and workmanship. This will encompass a wide spectrum of high value-added activities, ranging from refinery of gold, producing gold bars, setting up top end jewelry processing units, vault facilities and to trading of gold and bullions on the new commodity exchange. The exchange is also supposed to facilitate trade in diamond and other precious metals.

In the automotive sector, Indian Delegates have already visited Mauritius and expressed interest in setting up several manufacturing projects in the country, one of which is the production of bicycles and motorcycles. This project aims mainly at exports to the African market and has the potential for creating a significant number of jobs, Mr. Kalantri added.

In Photo: Mr. Vijay Kalantri, Vice Chairman, World Trade Centre Mumbai (right) felicitating Mauritius Prime Minister Sir Anerood Jugnauth with flowers (left).

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